This weekend I ran in the Hearts with a Mission – Homeless 2 Hopeful Super Hero Run. Their mission is to serve homeless and at-risk youth by providing shelter, educational support, mentoring and transition planning with a faith-based approach.

The folks at Quantum supported the event by helping to build the runners kits, prepping my “Captain Quantum” costume, and sponsoring the event. It was a great morning for a beautiful run.

At Quantum, our five Core Purpose statements are: Be Disruptive, Be Knowledge Givers, Be Experts… on this day, it was all about Be Fun and Be Servants. It’s a great privilege to participate in this event and to work for a company where giving back like this is not only supported but also encouraged

My buddy Dave had his drone on site, shot some footage and built this video.

If this is of interest to you Hearts with a Mission could certainly use your support., or maybe there is a similar organization in your local area that you can support.

In the military, a poorly formatted email may be the difference between mission accomplished and mission failure. During my active duty service, I learned how to structure emails to maximize a mission’s chances for success. Since returning from duty, I have applied these lessons to emails that I write for my corporate job, and my missives have consequently become crisper and cleaner, eliciting quicker and higher-quality responses from colleagues and clients. Here are three of the main tips I learned on how to format your emails with military precision:

1. Subjects with keywords. The first thing that your email recipient sees is your name and subject line, so it’s critical that the subject clearly states the purpose of the email, and specifically, what you want them to do with your note. Military personnel use keywords that characterize the nature of the email in the subject. Some of these keywords include:

ACTION – Compulsory for the recipient to take some action

SIGN – Requires the signature of the recipient

INFO – For informational purposes only, and there is no response or action required

DECISION – Requires a decision by the recipient

REQUEST – Seeks permission or approval by the recipient

COORD – Coordination by or with the recipient is needed

The next time you email your direct reports a status update, try using the subject line: INFO – Status Update. And if you need your manager to approve your vacation request, you could write REQUEST – Vacation. If you’re a project manager who requires responses to your weekly implementation report from several people, type ACTION – Weekly Implementation Report. These demarcations might seem obvious or needlessly exclamatory because they are capitalized. But your emails will undoubtedly stand out in your recipient’s inbox, and they won’t have to work out the purpose of your emails. (It also forces you to think about what you really want from someone before you contribute to their inbox clutter.)

2. Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF). Military professionals lead their emails with a short, staccato statement known as the BLUF. (Yes, being the military, there is an acronym for everything.) It declares the purpose of the email and action required. The BLUF should quickly answer the five W’s: who, what, where, when, and why. An effective BLUF distills the most important information for the reader. Here’s an example BLUF from the Air Force Handbook:

BLUF: Effective 29 Oct 13, all Air Force Doctrine Documents (AFDDs) have been rescinded and replaced by core doctrine volumes and doctrine annexes.

The BLUF helps readers quickly digest the announcement, decision, and when the new procedures go into effect. The reader doesn’t necessarily want to know all the background information that led to the decision. He or she likely wants to know “how does this email affect me?” and the BLUF should answer this question every time.

For my corporate job, I don’t use the acronym “BLUF” because it would be unclear to recipients, but I have started leading with “Bottom Line” in bold at the start of my notes. Sometimes, I even highlight the bottom line in yellow so that my point is abundantly clear. Here is an example of a BLUF adapted for corporate use:

Subject: INFO – Working from home

Shannon,

Bottom Line: We will reduce the number of days that employees can work from home from three to one day per week effective December 1st.

Background:

This is an effort to encourage team morale and foster team collaboration

All members of the management committee supported this decision

Shannon knows that no response is required because it was marked INFO. She also quickly grasps the information in the email because of the Bottom Line. Because this is a big change in corporate policy, background details are provided to show that the decision is final, supported by management, and intended to result in positive effects for the company.

3. Be economical. Military personnel know that short emails are more effective than long ones, so they try to fit all content in one pane, so the recipient doesn’t have to scroll. They also eschew the passive voice because it tends to make sentences longer, or as the Air Force manual puts it, “Besides lengthening and twisting sentences, passive verbs often muddy them.” Instead, use active voice, which puts nouns ahead of verbs, so it’s clear who is doing the action. By using active voice, you are making the “verbs do the work for you.” Instead of, “The factory was bombed by an F18,” military professionals would say, “An F18 bombed the factory.”

Even though short emails are usually more effective, long emails abound, even in the military. If an email requires more explanation, you should list background information after the BLUF as bullet points so that recipients can quickly grasp your message, like in the above example.

Lastly, to prevent clogging inboxes, military professionals link to attachments rather than attaching files. This will force the recipient to check the website that has the attachment, which will likely provide the most recent version of a file. Also, the site will verify that the recipient has the right security credentials to see the file, and you don’t inadvertently send a file to someone who isn’t permitted to view it.

Here is an email example for corporate use that uses keywords in the subject, bottom line, background bullets, and active voice:

Subject: INFO – Meeting Change

Shannon,

Bottom Line: We scheduled the weekly update meeting for Thursday at 2 PM CST to accommodate the CFO’s schedule.

Background:

We searched for other available times, but this is the only time that works, and it’s important that you are on the call, so that you can address your P&L.

CFO will be in Boston on Thursday meeting at an offsite with the management committee.

He wants to review the financial report that can be found here (insert link) before the call.

By adopting military email etiquette, you will introduce a kernel of clarity to your correspondence and that of your colleagues and clients.

One of the cool things about writing books is that you get to do interviews. It’s oddly fun to have strangers ask you questions that you have to then respond to off the top of your head. Kind of like business improv.

What makes it easier is that people tend to ask me a few questions over and over. By far the most common (in fact, I have yet to do an interview where this question wasn’t asked) is “Are leaders born or made?” Interestingly, I’ve noticed that most interviewers think they already know the correct answer: they believe leaders are born. That is, they assume that some people come into this world with a natural capacity to lead, and everybody else doesn’t, and there’s not much you can do about it.

What I’ve learned by observing thousands of people in business over the past 30 years, though, is that – like most things – leadership capability falls along a bell curve. Some people are, indeed, born leaders. These folks at the top of the leadership bell curve start out very good, and tend to get even better as they go along. Then there are the folks at the bottom of the curve: that bottom 10-15% of people who, no matter how hard they try, simply aren’t ever going to be very good leaders. They just don’t have the innate wiring.

Then there’s the big middle of the curve, where the vast majority of us live. And that’s where the real potential for “made” leaders lies. It’s what most of my interviewers assume isn’t true – when, in fact, it is: most folks who start out with a modicum of innate leadership capability can actually become very good, even great leaders.

So, what does it take? If I’m an OK leader, and I want to become a great leader, what do I do?

The single most powerful way to grow as a leader: Become truly self-aware.

This is, hands down, your biggest secret weapon in making yourself a great leader. Before I go on, please understand: I don’t mean self-involved. There are lots of “leaders” who are way, way too focused on themselves, their evolution, their drama, etc. etc. Becoming truly self-aware means to cultivate, on a daily basis, an accurate sense of how you show up in the world and what motivates you. For instance: What are your actual strengths and weaknesses as a leader and as a person? What impact do you have on others? What do you care most about? What’s your moral compass, and do you use it as a guidance system? How closely do your actions line up with your promises?

Of the executives I’ve coached over the past two decades, I’d say that only about 25% of them are genuinely self-aware. The rest do not see themselves accurately – sometimes to an astonishing degree. Without exception, the more self-aware someone is, the easier he or she is to coach; the more improvable and better able to accept what they need in order to improve. When people who have low self-awareness want to grow, it’s like someone who wants to travel to New York and he thinks he’s starting in Philadelphia – but he’s actually in Botswana. The steps he would take to get to New York, thinking that he’s in Philly, will definitely not work for him (that pesky ocean is going to be a big shock).

To translate this into leadership development: let’s say that I think I have great relationship-building skills, when the truth of the matter is that people find me overbearing and insensitive. When someone suggests that I need to make real changes in this area in order to be a more effective leader, I’m unlikely to be open to that counsel.

I know of three simple (not easy, but simple) ways to dramatically improve your self-awareness:

1) Become a fair witness. I’ve talked about this often inpast posts. To be a fair witness means to report your experience as accurately and neutrally as possible. The more emotional attachment you have to something, the more challenging it is to be a fair witness of that thing; most of us are very emotionally attached to ourselves and our own success. “Fair witnessing” yourself is easiest if you take a mental step back and imagine that you are another person observing you: someone who sees you very clearly. Reflect on your actions, your strengths and weaknesses, your mistakes and successes, as though you are this impartial third-party. What would he or she say about how you show up?

2) Invite feedback. People who want to be fully self-aware know that none of us can see ourselves entirely clearly without the aid of others. It’s like trying to know what you look like without having a mirror. If you want to have a more accurate sense of how you are operating in the world, build a small group of people who know you well, see you clearly, want the best for you — and are willing to be drop-dead honest with you in the service of that. I’d also suggest that you take a look at some of the 360 leadership assessments available to you. I’m partial to our Accepted Leader Assessment, based on Leading So People Will Follow, but there are certainly other good ones out there, as well.

3) Listen. I am a huge fan of the power of listening. I believe it’s foundational to success as a manager, as a leader, as a parent, spouse, colleague, human being. And it’s essential to true self-awareness. If you can learn to listen fully, without filtering what you hear through your pre-existing notions, you will find that everyone around you is continually giving you clues – both subtle and overt – about how you’re showing up, what they think of you, and how you’re impacting them.

As you become more self-aware, you’ll start to be able to hone in on both your strengths as a leader (so you can make best use of them) and those areas where you can improve….and move yourself up the bell curve to great.

Those in supervisory roles often believe that complexity equates to intellect. Making something too simple shows a lack of intelligence. The reality is that it takes confidence to simplify. Einstein said that the “highest level of intelligence is SIMPLE.” Failure to simplify really shows a lack of confidence. We call this the Too Simple Syndrome.

Coach John Wooden often said, “The biggest mistake coaches make is they over-coach.” This is absolutely true for formulating arguments and presentations. The biggest mistake people make is trying to over-teach. Other people are not as expert as you on your subject, and they do not need to be. Avoid the Too Simple Syndrome, and show confidence in the simplicity.

A client of mine had the task of convincing some higher-ups of the need for an expensive, but necessary, software for his firm. The leaders who had to sign off on the purchase had little knowledge of the software or the process that the software would simplify. My client prepared and polished a presentation explaining the ins and outs of the software, and why it would greatly improve the efficiency and profitability of the firm.

Having been so diligent to ensure that every detail was carefully outlined and explained, my client was surprised and frustrated to find that many people asked questions and expressed doubts that were clearly covered in his presentation. He said to me, “These people just don’t listen. It’s so obvious that the firm needs this software, but they want to kill the project anyway.”

My client made the common mistake of assuming that everyone else is as expert as you on your area of expertise. It seems so obvious, but so many people grossly overestimate the level of understanding from other people. Once we become expert on a subject, it is difficult to remember what it was like to be a novice. It is incredibly common to make the mistake of trying to sway others to your argument by educating them on the complexities, thinking they will follow your logic and reach the conclusion you want. This mentality might seem to make sense, as it is beneficial for others to know that you have a deep level of understanding on a topic, but trying to bring others into too deep a level is a losing battle.

Follow these three simple rules to increase your leadership communication:

1. Identify Your “3 Most Important”

Stick to the Rule of 3. Specifically, allow yourself to cover no more than 3 major points, and the less the better. Give no more than 3 pieces of information within each of those major points. If you can not explain your argument using the Rule of 3, then you need to go to work to understand it more fully.

2. Highlight the “1 Must”

Once you have your 3 main points, clarify the 1 most important point of the three that your audience must take away from your interaction.

3. When In Doubt “Delete”

The more you say, the less believable you become. Highly successful people work on being precise with their words and their arguments.

Forcing yourself to simplify your presentation will allow you to understand it more deeply yourself.

When my client significantly simplified his presentation into the “3 Most Important” and “1 Must” and deleted all unnecessary sentences, words, and letters people jumped on board. He did the work for his audience of simplifying rather than trying to get everyone else up to his level of understanding.

Like this:

I was recently remind of a great story by Pastor Alistair Begg. With a bit of help from some great folks at @TruthForLife, I was able to find the story. A great reminder with a great truth.

When I was a small boy my father use to take me to a number of events that I didn’t want to go to. Not least of all the singing of male voice choirs. And it always seem to happen on a Saturday afternoon. And as part of salve to my reluctance he would he would allow me to go into a confectionery store and purchase sweets or candies as you would say. And those were the days when they still had them in the big jars and they meted them out in 2 ounces or 4 ounces or whatever it was and so you pointed up and the lady got it down and then she poured it in the tray and weighed it and put it in a bag and she gave it to you. So there was a transaction involved.

And I remember particularly one place on a Saturday afternoon. I must have been all shined up and ready for action. Brill cream on the hair. Shaved up the back of my head. I looked like I was ready for the Army.

There were, I remember, a number of people in the store. I don’t know what happened in the shop, but it must have been that that somebody said complimentary things about this shiny faced, wee chap that was waiting for his sweets.

And when the shop cleared and it was just the lady and myself, this lady, who I don’t know, I met her once in my life, as she handed me the bag of candy, she lent over the counter, and she said, “Sonny, flattery is like perfume – Sniff it, don’t swallow it.”

Like this:

The inspiration of a noble cause involving human interests wide and far, enables men to do things they did not dream themselves capable of before, and which they were not capable of alone. The consciousness of belonging, vitally, to something beyond individuality; of being part of a personality that reaches we know not where, in space and time, greatens the heart to the limit of the soul’s ideal, and builds out the supreme of character.